Lights! Camera! Interaction! What Designers Can Learn From Filmmakers

I began college as a film student. I’ve always loved storytelling, particularly visual storytelling in the forms of film and animation. Well-made films show us that they can drive engagement, communicate in subtle ways, change attitudes, and inspire us to try to change our lives.

Films succeed in evoking responses and engaging audiences only with a combination of well-written narrative and effective storytelling technique. It’s the filmmaker’s job to put this together. To do so they’ve developed processes, tools and techniques that allow them to focus attention, emphasize information, foreshadow and produce the many elements that together comprise a well-told story.

We’re responsible for creating products that aren’t just easy to use, but that people appreciate using. It stands to reason that the methods used in films to communicate with and engage audiences can serve as inspiration for designers.

With this presentation, we'’ll revisit the topic of using stories in design and expand on the technical aspects used in film to communicate. We’ll look at some tools used in film such as: cinematic patterns, beat sheets, and storyboards. We’ll consider why they’re used and how we might look to them for inspiration.